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Chapter 19

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Richie hugged Eddie close as he led the smaller boy up the stairs and into the old house. He felt the smaller boy shivering as he leaned heavily against Richie, allowing the other boy to support probably at least half of his weight. Richie noticed Eddie's movements seemed slow and difficult, like he was completely and utterly exhausted.

"Have you ever been in here before?" Eddie whispered as he looked nervously around once they'd entered the house.

Richie laughed softly. Leave it to Eddie to be scared of a fucking house after being literally missing for an entire day. "I've been in here a few times." He noted.

Eddie was still shaking as he shrunk further toward Richie's side. "There's a lot of spiderwebs..." He whispered. "And that part doesn't look stable." He pointed toward a corner of the house that seemed to be almost collapsing. "Maybe we shouldn't be in here... We should go back outside..."

Richie shook his head with a frown. Eddie was legitimately scared. Ordinarily, Richie would have made fun of him for it, but he didn't have the heart to right now. "Kids play in here all the time. It should be safe, Eds."

"It should be?" Eddie frowned up at him with raised eyebrows.

"It is. It's safe." Richie promised him, hugging the smaller boy closer. "I promise."

Of course, the house wasn't really 100% safe. It was old and decaying... Out in the woods... Animals could have gotten in. The creepy fucking clown that was stalking them could kill them at any time... Part of the building had already collapsed, so they'd have to be careful, but it would get them out of the rain at least, and give Eddie some time to compose himself and settle his nerves about going back into town.

"I'm gonna try to start a fire in the fireplace." Richie suggested. "Then we can work on getting your hands untaped... If that's okay?" He figured he should do something to warm the smaller boy up first and foremost. Eddie was shaking so much Richie was starting to worry that if he didn't get his friend home or to a hospital soon, he'd end up seriously sick... So since Eddie wouldn't agree to that, Richie at the very least could give him a warm place to be in the meantime.

Eddie nodded as he sat down on an old, dusty couch, drawing his legs up toward his chest and shivering. He looked tiny under Richie's Jacket, and very vulnerable considering he was all wet and bruised up.

"You still okay?" Richie frowned as he watched his friend. Eddie looked really tired.

"Yeah." Eddie exhaled and leaned back. He still continued looking around the room as though he was afraid it would collapse entirely at any moment, but then looked back toward Richie with a small smile. "I'm okay now... I'm just glad you're here..."

Richie smiled slightly as well. He was glad he was here too. At this point, seeing Eddie alive right here in front of him felt almost impossible. Richie didn't know if he had thought the smaller boy was dead... Whatever he thought once it started getting dark and no trace of Eddie could be found, he was starting to feel in his heart that he might never see Eddie again. He was so fucking glad that wasn't the case. He didn't know what he'd do if anything ever happened to Eddie. How could he live without his best friend?

Richie frowned, but headed toward the fireplace, stacking logs and twigs that had been collected in a pile nearby. Someone else had been here semi-recently - probably other kids. It looked like lots of recent fires had been going.

As he worked on the fire, Richie glanced over his shoulder at Eddie. He hadn't allowed himself to think of the worst possibilities too much before, but he realized now how vulnerable Eddie was. He was so small, so fearful... If it weren't Henry who took him, it could have been someone else. Eddie was an easy target.

"How did you know exactly where I was?" Eddie spoke up, his voice shaking as he couldn't stop shivering.

Richie shook his head and blinked his eyes, bringing himself back to the present reality. "Henry told me. He said he left you tied to a tree by the old Miller house in the woods. This is the Miller house." He gestured to the room and shrugged.

"Huh..." Eddie mumbled. "I was scared he was just gonna leave me there to figure it out on my own." He offered a nervous laugh. "Like, I was glad he let me go, but he tied me there really tight... I couldn't get free."

"I know. I could see that." Richie frowned, positioning the wood in the fireplace along with smaller kindling below, then lighting a match and attempting to get the fire going. He exhaled tiredly when the twigs didn't catch fire very well. Fortunately, there was a fair amount of trash thrown around the house - and some of it was paper or cardboard. Richie stood up and started collecting some of it. "How long did he leave you there?" Richie wondered, glancing toward Eddie before heading back to the fireplace.

Eddie shrugged. "Not too long. I was in his basement most of the time."

Richie looked over his shoulder with a frown. "His basement?" He repeated. He wished he would have considered that... Richie had been so sure the clown must have taken Eddie. And if not Pennywise, he figured maybe some creep from out of town snatched him. Those two things were his worst fears - that someone who wouldn't give him back had taken him. That they were hurting him and would eventually kill him. He never even thought to check the houses of their bullies... He should have thought of it. He felt like an idiot for not even letting that cross his mind.

"Yeah." Eddie let out a breathless laugh. "They grabbed me up off the sidewalk on the way to Bill's house. I wasn't even gone from your house for ten minutes before they showed up."

"They?" Richie frowned. "Who else was with him?"

He looked back at Eddie, who stared with wide eyes and his mouth hanging open slightly, as though he was scared he'd accidentally let slip something he shouldn't have said. "Nobody..." He whispered. "I don't think I'm supposed to say..."

Richie exhaled and abandoned the fire for a moment, walking over and sitting down on the couch next to his friend. He took Eddie's hands in his own They were really cold, so he rubbed his own hands on them. "It's me, Eds... I won't say anything. You can tell me what happened. It'll stay between us."

Eddie shook his head. "Hm um..." He murmured, staring back and Richie with wide, dark eyes.

Richie leaned in closer, still rubbing his friend's hands. "Eddie... They're not getting another chance to hurt you, okay? I fuckin' promise you that." He spoke. "But you've gotta tell me who it was... I mean, I've got a few guesses... It's fuckin' Henry Bowers, so there's only a few other people who could have been there. Unless his fuckin' dad finally snapped and decided to start kidnapping kids."

Eddie swallowed nervously, but nodded, blinking a few times. "Patrick." He whispered. "It was Henry Bowers and Patrick. They took me to Bowers's basement. Tied up my hands and legs and my mouth... They wouldn't let me leave... I begged and cried and fought back. It just made them mad. Just made them more violent."

Richie nodded slowly. That made sense. "Just Henry and Patrick?" He asked. "None of the others?"

Eddie shook his head no. "It was just them... They were really mean, Richie... Like really, really scary..." His voice started to shake as his lip trembled. "Richie, I thought-" He cut himself off with a small sob.

"Come here..." Richie breathed, pulling his friend into a hug.

Eddie sniffed back tears and allowed Richie to hug him, leaning his head against Richie's collarbone and whispering. "I thought they were gonna kill me, Richie... I didn't at first, but then they took me to his house and they kept escalating. When Henry drove me out here, I thought he was taking me out here to kill me."

"God, Eddie..." Richie shook his head, pulling Eddie closer against his chest. He didn't even know what to say. His poor friend had just been through a fucking nightmare. He must have been so terrified. Henry and Patrick were scary on a normal day. Richie couldn't imagine how it would feel to be taped up in a basement all alone with them.

The smaller boy continued crying, shrinking down closer to Richie as the other boy rubbed his hands lightly up and down Eddie's back. "You're safe now." Richie assured him, resting his chin on top of Eddie's damp hair, staring across the room at peeling wall paper and a broken mirror hanging on the opposite wall.

"I know." Eddie whispered, finally letting his sobs dissolve into soft sniffles and shaky breaths. "You won't let them near me again, right?" He offered a small smile and a slight laugh.

Richie pulled back as well, smiling down at his friend, whose eyes looked like little half-moons thanks to his tiny smile. Richie let out a small laugh as well. "Of course I won't. I'll beat the shit out of 'em if they try anything."

Eddie laughed softly, then looked down with a frown.

Richie frowned too, leaning down slightly to look up into his friend's eyes as Eddie continued looking down. "Hey, Eddie... You don't have to tell anyone else any of this... but if you want to, I'll stand by you... I get it - they're scary... but you do have the option to tell. I'll go with you to the police and everything... This is pretty serious."

Eddie shook his head quickly, staring up at Richie with furrowed brows. "No." He refused.

Richie swallowed nervously. As far as he could tell, this was the worst thing the Bowers gang had ever done. This went further than literally any of the brutality they unleashed on any of them before. This wasn't bullying. This was a crime... A really serious, violent crime.

They actually kidnapped Eddie, and really hurt him during it... This wasn't them forcing the younger boy into an alley for twenty minutes to beat him up, or shoving him, tripping him, calling him names, or locking him in a closet... They actually took him, and wouldn't let him leave for nearly a full day - and judging by the look of Eddie, they most certainly didn't go easy on him. Richie shuddered to think what all his friend had gone through in the past day. It had to have been terrifying. Painful, and utterly terrifying.

"You sure?" Richie frowned. "They could get into real trouble - like jail-trouble..."

"No, Richie..." Eddie whispered, sticking out his lower lip in a pout. "I don't want to tell... His dad's a cop, and what if they don't really put them in jail? Or they say they didn't do it and it's their word against mine, and then they're really mad and do something to me. Richie, you can't tell..." His voice shook as his breaths started to get more frantic. "Please don't tell... They'll do something worse. I don't wanna tell anyone... Richie..."

Richie exhaled. Eddie was clearly pretty upset by the idea of reporting this, and Richie was certainly not going to try to force him. "That's okay... Eds, it's okay..." He put his hand lightly on Eddie's arm as the smaller boy continued breathing rapid, shaking breaths.

"I just don't want to tell, Richie..." Eddie whimpered. "They said not to..."

"Alright..." Richie nodded, rubbing his hand lightly on his friends arm. "You don't have to tell on them... I won't say anything unless you want me to. Its up to you. But if you change your mind, I'll go with you. This isn't just hitting and kicking or name-calling... They fucking kidnapped you. I mean, you look like you've been fucking tortured, Eds..." Richie felt tears welling up in his own eyes as he watched Eddie's eyes grow teary as well. "No pressure... Okay? But if you wanna tell, I get it. I'll back you up."

Eddie shook his head again. "I can't." He whispered.

"Alright..." Richie reluctantly agreed, still staring at his friend, who looked entirely nervous. Richie stuck his lower lip out in a pout as he noticed tears in Eddie's eyes. Richie kind of wanted to cry too. Eddie was so beaten up. How dare Patrick and Henry do this to him?

The two of them sat in silence for a moment, as Richie reached carefully up and ran his fingertips lightly over a bruise on Eddie's neck. "What did they do to you?" Richie finally whispered. "You were gone for hours... most of a whole day."

Eddie shivered and looked down, pulling his hands out of Richie's grip.

Richie frowned and scooted back slightly. Maybe Eddie needed space. Maybe he needed some time before he was ready to talk.

"I'll tell you what, Eds... I'll get this fire going... Then you can tell me, alright?" Richie suggested. He could see the older boys had hurt Eddie. He knew his friend's explanation of what happened was going to be painful to retell - and to hear. The smaller boy had marks and bruises to prove it. He knew hours and hours of fear and pain wasn't going to be a pleasant memory to relive.

"You can tell me as much as you want... or as little... I mean, I'd like to know... I'll be supportive... But you don't have to tell me if you don't want to." Richie offered. "I'll get the fire going first. Then we can talk. Alright?"

Eddie nodded silently.

"Okay." Richie forced a smile, squeezing the smaller boy's shoulder lightly before making his way back over to the fireplace. He positioned the trash under the larger chunks of wood, then tried again to light it, producing a flame that seemed strong enough this time.

Richie added more larger logs on top, so that the fire would last a few hours, then he moved back toward the couch, sitting down and taking Eddie's hands in his. He decided not to ask Eddie to say anything just yet. Instead, he quietly started working to peel the tape off of the smaller boy's wrists, hoping Eddie would volunteer information on his own. The last thing he wanted was to upset his already traumatized friend. He needed to allow Eddie to talk about this at his own pace.

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